New theory of acoustic signal detection in the inner ear - An explanation of bifilar structure of the cochlea.

In this work a new theory of acoustic signal detection in the inner ear and an experimental explanation of the causes of bifilar cochlear structure was presented. Our innovative approach describes sound detection in a completely different way from the one currently adopted. It requires analyzing the inner ear system in the form of a bent spiral and assuming that perilymph in such a small system behaves like a non-Newtonian fluid. The necessity of analyzing the system in the form of a bifilar spiral results from the need to compensate the head movements, so far omitted in the analysis. We suggest that the construction and the role of the oval window and the stapes are different than just a simple piston that converts mechanical signals to hydrokinetic ones. Stapes provides uniform distribution of the hydrokinetic signal in the spiral cochlear system, and the conversion of momentum to angular momentum creates a force perpendicular to the vestibular membrane, which causes the effect of its deflection, what has not yet been explained.